[10/15/12 - 12:48 PM]Get Caught Up on Discovery's #1 Series "Gold Rush" Before the Season Premiere with This Week's One-Hour Special "The Long Road"As previously announced, the series returns for its third season on Friday, October 26.

[via press release from Discovery]

GOLD RUSH

"The Long Road"

Premieres Friday, October 19th at 8PM E/P

(60 minute special)

In this action-packed one-hour special, relive the most heart pounding and heart breaking moments of the first two seasons of Gold Rush as the Hoffman crew and their rivals Parker Schnabel and Dakota Fred deal with crew fighting, equipment breakdowns and a very unforgiving MotherNature in an attempt to get gold out of the ground in the frozen north.

Going for the Gold | Gold Rush

Looking Ahead | Gold Rush

Then on Friday, October 26th, gear up for the new season of GOLD RUSH. The night begins at 7:30PM with a 90 minute special recounting what the miners did during the winter to prepare for their "make or break" seasons. Then at 9PM, the journey continues with the season 3 premiere of GOLD RUSH. Follow along each week and see if you can guess who hits the mother lode this year!

GOLD RUSH

"Do or Die"

Premieres Friday, October 26th at 7:30PM E/P

(90 minute special)

The off-season is where miners say they make all their money - it's all about preparation for the coming season. And miner Todd Hoffman has his hands full. He claims he'll find 1,000 ounces of gold - worth about $1.6 million - in this, his third mining season. That's ten times more than what he and his crew produced last year: 93.5 ounces worth about $150,000. But Hoffman dreams big and there's no stopping him from trying to pull this off. Though if he fails, he says this will be hislast season.

To even come close to this seemingly impossible goal, Todd has to make some drastic changes from last season. He needs to double down on his crew, equipment, wash plants and yes,even his claims. But that takes some serious money and he needs to secure an investor to fund this supersized operation. To add to his challenges, Todd's right hand man Dave Turin is fed up with his mining tactics and will only return to the Klondike with the Hoffman crew if he is allowed to run the second claim his own way, splitting the original mining team in two.

GOLD RUSH SEASON 3 PREMIERE

"Million Dollar Season"

Premieres Friday, October 26th at 9PM E/P

It took two years to get here, but this season, four competing gold mining crews have made it to the big leagues.

After finding just 35 ounces of gold last year, worth about $56,000, 18-year-old Parker Schnabel has to prove to his grandfather,John Schnabel, that he's got what it takes to be a real Alaskan gold miner. He hires a new crew, mines new land and rebuilds his aging wash plant from the ground up. And it pays off. In one week Parker gets more gold out of Big Nugget than all of last season. But can he keep up the momentum and turn a profit for the mine - and his grandpa?

Across the creek from Parker is the Porcupine Creek mine, run by "Dakota Fred" Hurt and his son Dustin. And their plans are just as big. They pulled in 80.4 ounces last year, worth about $128,000, but that just whet their appetite. The weather turned last season just as they hit bedrock at the bottom of the glory hole - a spot thought to contain millions of dollars worth of gold. With a female miner joining the Dakota Boys this season, they excavate a 90-foot crater and deal with the effects of the worst winter in 50 years to get to the gold.

In their quest to find 1,000 ounces of gold this season, more than ten times the amount they found last season, the Hoffmans double down with two claims, two wash plants, twice the crew and twice the equipment. And at his insistence, Dave Turin leads the second mine, forcing the Hoffman crew to pick sides. Half of the original crew chooses to mine with Dave and the strategy pays off. Between the two mines they break all previous gold counts - but the pressure to get to 1,000 ounces drives a wedge between the crews and it's a battle between Team Todd and Team Turin for who can produce the most gold.